Scouts B.S.A. hosts Community Fun Day to gain participants

Scouts Boy Scouts of America hope to change the world through shaping children's character

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – The Scouts Boy Scouts of America troops of east Mississippi hosted a Community Fun Day at Camp Seminole to showcase their organization.

“I wouldn’t trade it or anything,” Daniel Grebner said.

Daniel Grebner is an Eagle Scout in the Scouts Boy Scouts of America. After 10 years of participating in the program, he’s learned several tactics.

“It’s taught me so many scout skills that I can use in my daily life now. You know, I learned so many things about cooking, communication skills, leadership and I think now we take it for granted and I think this generation really needs it because now everybody is in the inside and not in the outdoors”, Grebner said.

Camp Seminole is a base for Scouts B.S.A. to spark interest in the program in parents and children.

While there are around 500 scouts in the east Mississippi region, Scout Executive Keith Walton said the COVID-19 pandemic put a strain on the organization and activities.

“We had to have virtual den meetings or virtual scout meetings, our summer camp activities, we were able to open up our scout camps. We sell popcorn so we were about to get out with our products sales and be able to expose the community and like that. So it limited us in those aspects,” Walton said.

Assistant Scout Master Gus Eifling said the event invites youth to participate in the scouts in hopes to stop acts of violence.

“Over the last 6 to 8 months, there’s been multiple shootings in Starkville, Mississippi. And the outcry from the public is ‘we need something that our kids can do to get them off the streets’. That’s where Scouts B.S.A, Cub Scouts, we really come into play because we give you an opportunity to get off the streets. We give you an opportunity to learn a trade,” Eifling said.

Walton said he believes the key to making the world a better place is to help shape students’ characters.

“They want their child to be a productive citizen. There’s not another organization, a better organization that can contribute to that path and meet that parent’s expectations. So when you think about it, it’s two-way. Intangibly, it’s the scout oath and the scout law,” Walton said.

Eagles scouts said the two main reasons they joined the Boy Scouts were one, to reach their goals, and two, to shoot for success.

“I think the main goal for me is reaching, transitioning over to Scouts B.S.A. and becoming an Eagle Scout. And that’s one of the most high, the highest recognition you can get in the Scouts B.S.A. And I think what parents want to get is to kind of maybe even mature their kids a little bit into young adults which would help them in school, in church, whatever. Just in daily life,” Grebner said.

Sign-ups for the Scouts are available for both boys and girls.